The Department of Social Welfare and Development – National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) thru its program-participants in the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), participated in the 117th Philippine Independence Day celebration in Rizal Park, Manila with the theme, Kalayaan 2015: Tagumpay sa Pagbabagong Nasimulan, Abot-Kamay na ng Bayan.

The participants displayed and sold their respective products which includes women’s accessories, bags made of beads and recycled materials, alpombra slippers, undergarments and food items such as leche flan, pichi-pichi, siomai, fruit shake, shrimp paste, smoked fish, relyenong bangus, salted egg, boiled duck egg and special rice cake called as “inutak.”

Among them is Marilyn Cagyat, 41 years old and is selling “inutak” which is her family’s small scale enterprise business after receiving their capital assistance under SLP amounting to P8,000.00 in 2014.

Marilyn’s family also belongs to Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries wherein she admitted that the loaned capital assistance further supported her family’s needs aside from the cash grants they are receiving in the CCT program.

Out of her four (4) children, Marilyn now has two (2) college students taking of Civil Engineering Technology and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Marketing Management at the Rizal Technological University (RTU).

Meanwhile, her two other children are in 4th and 3rd year high school who are the active children-beneficiaries being monitored in the program.

With her husband Jun, 45 years old and a construction worker, Marilyn confirmed that it is really hard to support the studies of their children that is why they are full of gratitude that there are programs that assist them in sending their children to school.

Cagyat family is one of the 239, 263 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in Metro Manila who are being monitored to education and health conditions compliance in the program as of June 11, 2015.

Further, DSWD-NCR has awarded capital assistance to a total of 1,173 beneficiaries in the region which amounted to P7, 288, 500.00 for this year.###